This year at Frameline, the festival had student guest bloggers from the University of Wisconsin contribute to the Frameline Blog. Here are a few of the posts regarding Leading Ladies.

I find it difficult, yet extremely easy to describe the film Leading Ladies because the experience of the film was overwhelming. To be honest, I went into this film not knowing what it was about and I even forgot the title, but the impact that this film left on me was huge. A film about two lesbian dance partners? To me, this was unorthodox and I thought that it was going to completely lose my attention about halfway through, yet it gave happiness throughout.

Besides just watching the film, the director and two of the main actors talked about the film in a sense I had yet to see at the Frameline Festival. Those involved in the film were excited, funny, and were willing to talk to me after the show for a few short minutes. I could not think of a better film, or director to bring back to the Eau Queer film festival, especially because of the mutual understanding of the Midwest attitudes toward queer people. Plus, I may also be slightly biased because of my love for dancing. —Bryton Fredrick

I fell in love with the film Leading Ladies almost instantly. With its carefree spirit and mindless antics what wasn’t there to love about it? I had more likes about not only the story itself but also how the film was produced and put together than I had dislikes. For starters, I loved that the characters were not hypersexual. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched any gay themed film and the main characters or important characters were portrayed as extremely sexual beings. I also loved that the actors, director, and producer all had this amazing chemistry on screen as well as when they came on stage afterwards. The story itself was amazing. It was well written, funny, light hearted, and very fun. After seeing this film I will never look at a grocery aisle the same way again.

Unfortunately, like with all films, there were negative aspects to it as well. Besides a couple personal issues I had with character flaws (ahem, the mother driving me absolutely bananas and the friend/dance partner being a “stereotypical” gay man) there wasn’t too much more to complain about. While the film wasn’t slow paced by any means it did take a bit too long to get to the gay component of it.

Overall, I found this film very easy to fall in love with. It was simple and light hearted without too much “in your face” drama like some of the films that I have seen. And for all those reasons I feel it would be a great film to bring back to Eau Claire. The queer aspect of the film slyly makes it way present and you don’t really see it as “just” a queer film. –Tatjana Trommershauser

When contemplating which films to bring back to Eau Queer Film Festival, Leading Ladies always comes to mind, it would also be a great idea to invite the actors and/or directors to come as well. The film did a great job of presenting the message of LGBT issues in a non-threatening environment. Even though there were sad moments, I would consider the film to be, overall, light hearted.

After hearing from my classmates that the students pursuing a dance minor were not encouraged to create a same sex performance for the use of their capstone, I was saddened and appalled. The films use of same sex dance partners would help to broaden the minds of the Eau Claire community. The dancing within this film is impeccable. I have seen same sex dance partners perform prior to this film, but I had never seen it in such a beautiful, inspiring way. Their movement was so fluid, and clean; every time dancing would begin it literally took my breath away. —Lindsay Miklya

Today the pre-order for the Leading Ladies DVD goes live on Wolfe’s website. The street date for the DVD is Sept. 13, 2011, but you can go ahead and order now to be one of the first to receive the DVD!

Click the DVD cover above and you will be taken to the Wolfe website to complete your purchase. By using the affiliate link from this page or purchasing via the Leading Ladies website merchandise page, the cast and crew will receive a greater percentage of your purchase price.

Click here to add Leading Ladies to your Netflix queue. Please also leave a five-star rating and maybe write a little review!

If you have a “streaming only” account, you probably won’t be able to add the title at the moment, as it will be released only on DVD for the first little while (but you can still add a five star rating and review!).

The number of people who have Leading Ladies in their queue will greatly affect the number of DVD’s Netflix orders for their initial purchase, so even if you’ve already seen the film or ordered your own copy on DVD, please place Leading Ladies in your queue!

We’ve also got a handy little widget (check it out in action to the right). The code for you to cut and paste to add the widget to your own blog or web page is here:

If you want to let your Facebook friends know, that would be fantastic! Here’s the event to which you can invite your Facebook friends to let them know all about how to add Leading Ladies to their queue.

Thanks so much for your patience. The final Leading Ladies soundtrack has 18 tracks of musical goodness from musicians all over the planet! Thanks also to our friends and artists who lent their music to this work. Please support them by visiting their websites and purchasing more music!

Soundtracks are available at Leading Ladies festival screenings and also via the Leading Ladies website merchandise page.

The buzz on the international festival circuit for the past several months presages a strong year for gay and lesbian cinema. That means a likely banner edition of Frameline35: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, which includes more than 200 films from 30 countries. Pick a day, pick a program, and the odds are unusually excellent that you’ll find films to move you in multiple ways. [. . .] Leading Ladies (9:15 p.m. at the Castro) promises more drama with a kick — along with the occasional well-executed dip and twirl — with its tale of rambunctious, rival ballroom-dancing sisters. Benji Schwimmer, the breakout star of So You Think You Can Dance, lights up the big screen in a crucial supporting role.

If this independently produced film was instead a studio-driven production, it would have had a major theatrical roll-out. Instead, the filmmakers took the festival circuit approach beginning in April of last year –at small venues such as the Sonoma International Film Festival (where it captured the Showcase Award in its debut outing) and the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival.

More festivals followed. More awards. Then a move to the international circuit, where Leading Ladies was also well-received. Word spread. Toes were tapping. Audiences and critics were singing its praises and now Wolfe Video has a genuine early fall sleeper on its hands.

This early announcement for DVD, coupled with additional film festival exposure (the closing night film at this year’s San Francisco United Film Festival on June 27), gives Wolfe plenty of time to work the streets and build awareness.

In the competitive world of ballroom dancing –think: combat staging grounds for Dancing with the Stars, etc. –there is Sheri Campari (Melanie LaPatin –an actual dancer who handled the choreography and was featured as a dancer in such films as Dance With Me and The Thomas Crown Affair), a stage mom on a mission. She is a force of nature.

She has two daughters in their early 20’s. One is Anastasia (Shannon Lea Smith) –known to all as just “Tai –and the other is Antoinette (Laurel Vail –The Echo Game), the “ugly duckling” of the family who answer to Toni. You can see early on where mom has her priorities, Tasi will be the star and Toni will be her support, even to the point of dressing the role as her partner in the seemingly endless practice sessions (the stand-in lead).

End of story, right? If you believe that, then you’ve never seen a really good MGM musical from the golden days of such fare. There will be twists and turns, elaborate dance numbers, wonderful (and original) music, love interests and a certain “leading lady” will shine. This is a keeper.

Funny that there was no mention of Benji Schwimmer (season two winner of So You Think You Can Dance) or the fact that Melanie LaPatin is a regular choreographer on the show. I guess that means the film can stand on it’s own merit!